


this winter, you're here

by camphollstein



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:53:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28207875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camphollstein/pseuds/camphollstein
Summary: Asami has spent Christmas at the Air Temple for the past six years, after a lifetime of lonely holidays. This year's celebration brings Korra, Tenzin's goddaughter, into her life. Something about her draws her in.ORAsami and three Christmases.
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato
Comments: 4
Kudos: 103





	this winter, you're here

Year One

When Asami graduated college, she figured most of her friendships would end there. Not that she didn’t like them, but because it’s what happened with her group of friends back in high school- it made sense that, now that they would start adult-adult life, their bonds might not survive not seeing each other for days and days.

However, they had other plans.

Mako and Bolin continued to invite her over on Sundays for lunch, and they often ate dinner together near the central metro station. Opal regularly dropped by Asami’s office to study, because it’s way quieter than the Air Temple, sometimes with a tired Jinora who really needed a nap. On most holidays, Asami hung out at the Temple, eating vegan turkey and beating everyone’s ass on Super Smash Bros.

After six years, it was pretty obvious that she’d come over for Christmas. Opal even texted her the night before, talking about the Christmas Bending Tournament, pleading Asami to judge Bolin as the winner this year, for her patience’s sake. Asami left her flat on Christmas Eve with a number of carefully-wrapped gifts and a bottle of wine, snug in a terrible Christmas sweater.

It’s lightly snowing on Air Temple Island as her ferry drops her by. The heavy skies portend heavy snowfall for the evening, but Asami is still safe. Jinora waits for her at the docks, unusually calm.

“It’s past noon, Jinora,” Asami says, picking up her huge bags. “Shouldn’t you be pulling your hair out because of Meelo yet?”

Jinora rolls her eyes at the mention of her brother. “I hate teenager Meelo more than I despised kid Meelo. He’s gotten in this emo phase and keeps sulking around in this stupid haircut.”

“Oh wow, I have to see that.”

Jinora picks up one of the bags to help her out, waving off her thanks. “He’s listening to one of Korra’s stories.”

“Korra?” Asami raises an eyebrow.

“Yes. She’s my dad’s goddaughter, we practically grew up together. She got accepted into Royal University all the way in the Earth Kingdom, so she moved away a few years ago.” Here, Jinora hesitates, mouth twisting as she thinks. “She finished grad school and came here.”

“Is that bad?” Asami ventures.

“No. It’s just- she’s not herself. I don’t know. She used to love Christmas.”

Jinora shakes her head and doesn’t say anything more, focused on not tripping up the stairs. The living room is fully decked out in Christmas decorations; tinsel on the doors, bright blinking lights around plants and the walls. The Christmas tree is perfectly tucked into a corner, brightly lit and already disappearing under various colorful packages. Asami hurries to drop her gifts under it, hearing everyone’s conversations on the way. Her socked feet skid on the ground in her hurry to greet everyone. Bolin spots her first, his ridiculous fluffy red hat bouncing on his head.

“Merry Christmas, Asami!” He yells, getting up to crush her into an embrace. She hugs him back, laughing.

“Bo. We just saw each other yesterday.”

Bolin breaks away, holding her by the shoulders. “I’m always happy to see you,” he says, seriously. “Also, Mako won’t stop talking about Maths and I need backup.”

She laughs again and shakes her head. Mako appears from behind his brother, dressed in a nice blue sweater with a simple snowflake pattern. “Hey, Asami. How are you?”

“I’m great. How was work?” she asks, sitting down. The other half of the room is busy in some animated discussion and she hasn’t looked their way yet. Mako pours her a glass of wine and Bolin scrounges for something for her to eat.

“Christmas is always rough,” he shrugs, a brief somber look passing by his face. “But the kids really enjoyed their gifts and we’re already planning the New Years’ party. You’re still coming, right?”

“Yeah, I cleared most of my work for the month. I’ll be there bright and early.”

Asami and Mako dated briefly in college, until they both realized they were better off as friends. The brothers became friends with her and Opal, her roommate, pretty early on, and they often went to each other’s events to help out. Mako graduated in Psychology, after quickly becoming disillusioned with their Criminal Justice program. Nowadays, he works with orphaned children downtown, providing therapy and regular social events.

“Asami!” Pema greets her kindly, a bright smile on her face. “I’m so glad to see you!”

“Hi, Pema. Thank you for having me.” She says, sheepish at Pema’s good-natured eyeroll.

A few years ago, when Asami became a regular at the Air Temple, Pema and Tenzin dropped most formalities. Tenzin took a little longer than his wife, but he too eventually came around to calling Asami just by her first name and scolding her for not exercising enough. They even asked Asami to come greet Rohan when he was born, together with most of their family.

Tenzin gives her a pat on the shoulder when she crosses the room to greet him. In true Tenzin fashion, he’s wearing his usual winter clothing- a thick, brown woolen sweater and warm cotton pants. But Rohan clearly got to him somehow, judging by the reindeer hat he’s sporting.

They talk about amenities for a while, Asami content in letting Mako and Bolin rule over conversation while she eats whatever she can find. She moves away from the small group to get a cup of cocoa when she spots a shape outside.

A woman is standing by the back porch, lit by a small lantern they keep by the door. Asami can only see the back of her blue winter coat and a pair of furry boots. Her shoulders are downturned, her hands shoved inside her pockets, and the freezing wind ruffles her hair.

Never one to leave well off alone, Asami picks up two steaming mugs and heads outside.

“Bit chilly for a smoke, no?”

The woman startles, turning to her voice. Asami plants a kind smile on her face, preparing to be told off or something, but the stranger gives only a nod.

“I think Tenzin would kill me.”

Her voice is nice to hear, even over the wind. Asami still can’t make up the shape of her face, but her cheekbones are high and her chin sharp.

“You’re Korra?”

She accepts Asami’s offer of cocoa, but doesn’t take a sip. “Yeah.”

“I’m Asami.”

“Oh,” she says. “I’ve heard about you. Rohan says you’re the best adult in the world.”

“I guess.”

“I resent that. I was supposed to be the fun aunt.”

Asami takes a second to recognize her teasing tone, but is relieved when the side of Korra’s lips turn up. “I’m just the best one at telling stories. You might have more than me, though.”

“Hm. Maybe.”

They stand in brief silence. Asami lets Korra have her space for a second, wondering how to broach her next subject. Before she can do so, though, Korra turns to face her fully.

“I’m sure you wanna know what I’m doing out here.”

Korra is, first of all, very beautiful. Her short, brown hair flutters in the wind like a commercial, and her blue eyes pierce right through Asami’s thoughts. Asami breathes in heavily at her sight, enchanted by Korra’s small smile. But what really gets through to her is that she looks sad.

“Yeah, kinda. It’s not really pleasant out here.”

“It doesn’t bother me that much.” Korra says. She looks off into the distance, the pitch black before them. Somewhere, the Avatar’s statue glows over the dark sea, so close they could almost see it from here. “I’m just not in a jolly mood, to be honest.”

Asami hums. “I get that.”

“Yeah?”

It’s a genuine question. “I only started to like Christmas after meeting Jinora’s family. It was pretty lonely before.”

“Lonely?”

“I’m an orphan,” Asami tells her casually. Korra immediately moves to apologize, but she waves her off. “It’s okay. It was a long time ago. But for most of my teens, Christmas just reminded me of things I had lost.”

Korra sighs; an embarrassed smile sprouts on her face, crooked and just a little more than goofy, and Asami feels herself blush. “God, now I feel bad about my problems.”

A huffed laugh escapes Asami’s mouth and Korra’s eyes flash to hers. “Comparing problems takes no one anywhere. We all go through different shit. What’s up with you, can I help?”

Korra looks poised to deny her offer, but then, after a pause, her shoulders drop. “Maybe?”

“Alright. Lay it on me.”

“I just- don’t know where I’m going. I finished my studies and came here, like I planned, but now that I’ve touched ground… I’m not even close to the person who left Republic City all those years ago, you know? Those plans don’t fit me anymore. Feels like I’m drifting, waiting for something.”

“That makes sense. We do a lot of growing when we live alone.”

“That makes sense.”

“Take your time, yeah?” Asami reaches out to lay her left hand on Korra’s shoulder. Korra looks a little relieved at the contact. “You never know if something might pop up. Just follow your gut.”

“That work for you?”

“Like a charm.”

The wind is suddenly a little warmer as Korra’s lips widen into a true, warm smile. She looks truly heartened, touched by Asami’s words- and she’s never thought herself that great with consoling people, but maybe she did just enough this time. Freezing her toes off outside is so worth it to see Korra’s eyes sparkle.

“Let’s go back inside, I think you’re turning blue.” Korra chuckles. Asami takes her hand back and smiles- she immediately misses Korra’s warmth.

* * *

They end up talking about the upcoming probending season and the Fire Ferrets’ odds - pretty bad - for another half-hour. Pema is surprisingly knowledgeable about the topic and her opinions butt up against Mako’s often; Mako is, as expected, much opposed to the Ferrets’ preference for defense this season, while Pema thinks their only chance at making it to semifinals is by relying on their waterbender’s precision strikes. Asami tunes out after a bit as tiredness catches up to her.

She sits far from Korra at dinner, not by choice. Rohan and Meelo had corralled Korra into their side of the table, talking about some TV show or something. Honestly, how would Asami even know. Every now and then their eyes meet and they smile at each other, sending a small wave of warmth to Asami’s ears.

The food is incredible, as usual. For the longest time, Asami spent Christmas at the Sato Mansion with Cup Noodles and awful Hallmark movies; she never really managed to get used to Pema’s large dinners. For the sixth year in a row, Asami eats so much feels like an inflated balloon, ready to drop at a moment’s notice.

They exchange gifts and talk about all kinds of things through the night. Asami had gotten Bolin a nice pair of boots, since he’s going to the South Pole for a role, and he keeps talking about how stretchy the soles are. Mako’s new red earmuffs look adorable on his head, especially when he furrows his brow just so. Pema gives Asami a nice yellow sweater with little flowers sewn in, together with a scolding about not wearing enough layers.

Eventually, Asami’s solitary nature wins out on her and she slips outside.

The kids somehow beat her to it- there’s a major snow battle happening at the courtyard. From her spot at the stairs, she can hear Ikki’s high-pitched laughter.

“You’re not joining?” Korra asks, plopping down next to her. Her hair is covered in small snowflakes, which will melt soon and wet her hair and shoulders. Asami briefly considers brushing them off.

“Of course not. It’s too cold.”

She gets a huff in response, though the corner of Korra’s lip turns up. “You northerners sure are fussy, huh?”

“Excuse me,” Asami rolls her eyes, “We can’t all be born directly into snow and ice.”

“It’s great for the immune system.”

“What, pneumonia?”

Korra laughs. “It’s actually pretty cold, I won’t lie.”

“Thank you.” She says, primly.

They sit in companionable silence for a while. Bolin joins the kids outside- they abandon their snowball fight and band together to drop him into the snow.

“Do you think our Bolin will survive the harsh southern weather?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Twenty bucks he calls me crying in two weeks.”

Korra narrows her eyes at her. “I’m at a disadvantage here.”

“Are you doubting your gut already?” Asami tsks.

“Okay, deal.”

Asami pretends her smile is for the money she’ll surely win and watches as Bolin throws a shrieking Mako into the snow.

* * *

Year Two

Asami is very, very late.

Her meeting with Raiko last night - the Grinch himself - ran to midnight and she has barely slept a wink since then. The contract for the new northern bridge needs to be completed by February, and, thanks to a surprise blizzard and a few overzealous waterbenders, their work has fallen behind by three weeks. Asami’s been buried in financial logs, turning down calls and refusing visitors, just to try and keep things decently organized.

It stands to reason, then, that Asami is mystified when a knock comes to her office door at a quarter to nine. She looks up, hair askew and hands stained with ink, and is startled to see Korra at the door.

“Oh, hi Korra,” she says, unmoored. “Um- what are you doing here?”

Korra saunters in, looking adorable in her red reindeer sweater. “I came by order of the Master Airbender to collect Miss Sato for Christmas, of course.”

Asami laughs. Korra’s fake seriousness looks very out of place in Asami’s tiny office. She’d chosen it just for that- Sato Construction is in a normal office building, close to the shore. Her office is on the third floor, like most of the accountants’, and it looks just like theirs; old green wallpaper, dark brown woods, a lamp. Her chair isn’t as good as, say, Rushan’s, but it’s sturdy leather and very comfortable.

They’re friends - good friends, even - but Korra’s never been to her office. It’s strange to see her rifle through one of Asami’s filing cabinets.

“I’m sorry,” she apologizes, snapping out of her stupor. “I lost track of time. There’s just so much to do.”

“It’s Christmas Eve, Asami.” Korra huffs loudly. “You’re literally the only one in here. Even ghosts went home already.”

“I just don’t want to miss anything. There’s a lot riding on this.”

Korra sits in the armchair by her window, crossing her arms. “I’ll give you twenty minutes to round everything up before I make you come with me.”

“How presumptuous of you, to think you can force me into anything,” Asami quips, still sorting through her papers. “I’ll have you know that I’m a decent fighter.”

“I’m sure you are, ‘Sams.”

They stay silent for at least five more minutes. Asami returns to her habit of reading some things aloud, as if to clarify them to herself, and Korra nary bats an eye. After so many months, Asami thinks, going over mind-numbingly boring reports, she’s probably used to Asami’s weirdness.

“How much longer?” Korra finally breaks around the fifteen minute mark. “It’s weirdly cold in here and I’m hungry.”

“Don’t be a baby,” she chides back. “I’m working.”

“It’s Christmas and you’re working. Do you see what’s wrong in this sentence?”

“I’m sorry, Korra.”

Korra’s fake put-out expression fades at Asami’s expression. Asami rubs her own forehead, feeling the stirrings of a headache. This deal has been bugging her for weeks and weeks. She hasn’t slept well in what feels like weeks.

“Look,” Korra starts. She gets up and walks around to kneel to Asami’s right, holding her hand in hers. “You helped me last Christmas, so I get to help you this time. You need to rest, yeah? Eat some good food, have a few laughs. You can always come back after the weekend.”

“I should be here tomorrow, actually-” She says, distractedly.

At those words, Korra’s patience ends and she tugs Asami from her seat. She protests, mostly for show. “Wait- Korra!”

“Opal made roasted nuts and Mako brought Wu over. He and Bolin are going to eat them all!” Korra says, eyes dramatically wide. At Asami’s eyeroll, she pouts. “You could stand to be a little nice to me, boss lady.”

“Shut up,” she sighs. “Let me get my coat.”

Korra does a goofy little dance and Asami’s heart flops down to her stomach. This crush is getting really out of hand, she thinks, picking up her coat and hat. She can’t keep almost dying every time Korra does anything cute.

It doesn’t help that the waterbender is in a mood tonight. She makes Asami sit through seven iterations of Ginger’s “Winter Wedding” and belts out it out completely out of tune, and it’s so fucking endearing. When the singing gets too boring, Korra fiddles with the small Santa hat hanging on her rearview mirror and breaks out into giggles when Asami complains about the snow plow they end up lagging behind.

If it were any other friend, Asami would have no problem with any of it. She’d be laughing and dancing along with the ridiculous songs- but it’s Korra. And Asami happens to have developed, somewhere along the year, an embarrassingly massive crush on Korra. She pretends not to be affected by her at all, leading most of her friends to believe she likes her as a friend. In reality, Asami spends a lot of her time at home looking out the window and waiting for Korra to text her back.

It’s ridiculous.

Asami is almost thirty, with two master degrees’ under her belt and a successful construction company she built from the ground up. She should be an adult about this, you know- ask the girl out of get over her already, but something about Korra’s crooked little grin makes her feel like a teenager. It’s disconcerting.

Korra makes the absolute worst pun and Asami swallows her adoration and just sighs.

* * *

Pema gives her a good chiding when they arrive. It’s made even worse by Rohan nodding cutely along with every pause of his mother’s words, followed by Meelo shaking his head in mock disapproval. Asami briefly wonders when they lost all respect for their elders. 

“You need to work less, young lady.” Meelo berates her, as his mother finally stops to take a breath.

“And you need to work more, young man.” Korra replies from Asami’s side. “I’ve seen your report cards.”

Pema’s focus immediately shifts to Meelo, her brows already twitching, and Asami and Korra take the opportunity to sneak out of this conversation.

“Nicely done,” Asami murmurs from the corner of her mouth. Korra moves a little closer to hear her better. “We’ve escaped.”

“I’ll try to save you from Bolin too. Can’t promise anything.”

“I’ll be forever in your debt.”

“I accept cash and precious jewelry.”

Asami rolls her eyes but huffs out a laugh. “You barely even let me buy you a Christmas present.”

Korra turns bashful. “You don’t gotta spend your money on me, ‘Sams. You already buy me lunch nearly every day.”

“So? It’s my money and if I want to shower you with gifts, I can.”

“But I can’t buy you anything-”

“Your company is enough.”

A blush dusts Korra’s cheeks and the tips of her ears. Pride swells within Asami and she feels her smile turn smug. Korra is very easy to fluster and it’s become one of her favorite pastimes.

Before she can tease her any further, though, Mako shows up with two cups in his hands. He hands Asami a hot toddy and, with a wink, Korra a hot chocolate. He and Asami both laugh at her immediate pout.

“I’m an adult, I’ll have you know.”

Mako raises an eyebrow. “Need I remind you of two weeks ago? When you climbed the bar at Narook’s?”

“What a night,” Asami says dreamily. “I got so many pictures.”

They keep teasing Korra for a few more minutes, just to see her squirm. Wu eventually comes by, already half-drunk with eggnog, and starts up a conversation about singing turtles or something, leading to the most confusing moment of her life when Korra seems to know exactly what he’s talking about. Mako seems just as baffled as she feels.

“Do you think this means we’re getting old?” Asami confers with Mako, voice pitched low so the others won’t hear. Mako leans in, eyebrows knitted.

“I sure hope not. Is it like a show?”

Asami has no clue. Mako and her have the most time-consuming jobs out of all of them, so they’re often out of the loop when it comes to pop culture. The only movies they watch are Bolin’s and the odd sports themed documentary Korra cons them into giving a chance. It’s normal for them to stay out of strange conversations like this, especially when, like now, Ikki or Meelo jump in with their opinions.

The duo decides to walk away from the conversation to go get something to eat. Asami instinctively touches Korra’s waist to let her know she’s leaving; Korra barely blinks, giving her a quick smile, but Mako’s eyes linger on her outstretched fingers. Asami knows she’s busted by the smug grin Mako gives her.

He waits until they’re far enough to speak. “Something you wanna share with the class, Miss Sato?”

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“C’mon, Asami. I know a crush when I see one.” He whispers.

She replies in the same tone. “Then you haven’t been looking for a while.”

“You’ve liked her for how long, then?”

“I’m not talking about this.”

Mako has a terrible habit of reading Asami too well. When they were young, it was the exact opposite- they never knew what the other one was thinking, leading to many passive-aggressive fights and cold shoulders. Over the years, Mako’s time with children at work led him to learning a lot about body language, so he applied that, even if subconsciously, to Asami. She can’t hide shit from him now.

He starts looking around and Asami follows him, paranoid. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m looking for some mistletoe,” he shares, distracted. “I’m gonna push you and Korra under one.”

“What?” she whispers harshly. “You will not-”

Mako gives her a playful look. He’s been spending way too much time with his children. “I should get Jinora and Ikki into this plan. So long, ‘Sami!”

Asami gapes at his retreating back, torn between anger and pure embarrassment. She can’t decide between either, so instead she goes back to the appetizer table and shoves several rice cakes into her mouth to give herself something to do.

* * *

Ikki keeps giving her looks. Mako has clearly filled her in about Asami’s ridiculously huge crush. At this rate, the whole damn house will know before Santa even thinks about his sleigh.

She stays in exactly one place for the next hour. Mistletoe might be hiding behind any corner or awning and she’s not taking any chances tonight. It’s Christmas and she does not want to get rejected during it. That’s next level humiliation right there. And it’s her favorite holiday too!

One might ask why she’s so sure of rejection. Well, she isn’t. Asami has no idea whether Korra likes her back or not.

Which is exactly why she won’t say anything.

Taking risks in her professional life? Sure. Asami dismantled her father’s entire empire during college and gave up most of his dirty fortune to non-profits. She cut ties with any of his weapon dealers and the people they supplied and even moved out of that ghastly manor. Asami built her civil construction company from the rest of the money she had and made sure to do everything correctly so that the Sato name would never be tainted again.

The difference between the risk she took with her life and the risk of confessing her feelings is that, though it sounds conceited: Asami knows she would succeed at the former. It’s not that she’s some kind of genius - though some do call her that - but it’s because Asami had no real choice. Her father’s legacy appalled her, in a deep moral level, and she refused to stand by any of it. She worked really fucking hard after he died and, ten years later, she’s successfully outgrown his shadow.

Feelings are a completely different matter. There’s no inherent logic to them, no equations she can memorize or theories she can speculate from. You either like someone, or you don’t. You’re either in love, or you’re not. People fall in and out of love all the time for uncountable reasons and none of them need to follow any kind of guideline.

If love made sense, for example, Tenzin would’ve married Lin and they would have a beautiful family together. That’s the expected result. However, Tenzin left Lin for Pema, Lin destroyed the island, they made up ten years later, and Lin married his sister.

See? Chaos. Asami does not appreciate chaos.

Besides, standing by the snack table is a great decision. She can keep eating all she likes and Bolin and Korra pass by her constantly, so she gets social interaction! Incredible. Asami’s gonna stand right here forever.

“‘Sams, can we talk?”

Until, of course, Korra’s puppy-dog eyes destroy her plan.

“Something wrong?” she asks, noticing a strange look upon her face. Kind of like she’s about to puke?

“No! Everything is great.”

Asami deliberately frowns. “Sure,” she says, disbelieving. “Let’s talk.”

Korra leads her to the kitchen. Asami makes sure to scan the entire room before entering, like a soldier might when encountering enemy ground. It’s clear of any mistletoe.

She leans against the counter, near the fridge. She’d seen Pema and Tenzin leave the kitchen a few minutes ago, after checking the tofurkey. They smiled at her with clear excitement- which now seems a little much for soy. Asami files in that for later.

“So, what’s up?”

A full year of knowing Korra is more than enough to know her tells. When bashful, Korra bites her lower lip and shifts from side to side; when excited, she basically vibrates in place, eyes wide and alert. And now, as Asami fixes her with a look, complete with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms, she is very nervous.

“Um, I- do you promise not to laugh?”

She looks so damn cute that Asami doesn’t have it in her to tease. “Yes, Korra. I won’t laugh at you.”

Korra sighs. “You’re just- kinda scary, so I had to ask first.”

“Scary?”

“Yeah. With the high heels and perfect eyeliner.”

“I’m not wearing either of those tonight.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Korra, sweetie, I don’t think I do,” she admits, half-smiling. “But I get it. I’ve been told I can be intimidating, sure. We’ve known each other a while now, though. Why are you scared of me now, all of a sudden?”

“Well, I got you a gift,” Korra starts. Asami reaches out as she finds her next words, holding her hands in hers so that poor Korra will stop fidgeting. “And I’m worried you won’t like it.”

Asami scoffs good-naturedly. She’s certain her fondness for Korra shines straight through her eyes right now; anyone else would know her feelings for sure. “You could give me a bucket of mud and I’d love it.”

“Mud?”

“Stick to the subject matter, Korra.”

“Right. I just- I talked to Ikki just now and-”

Whatever Korra says next is lost in static as Asami’s brain shuts down. Panic starts flooding into her body, throwing her fight or flight instinct into the forefront of her mind- if she fakes feeling sick, Asami can probably leave the party and return when the gift giving is done. Then she just has to lock the door - well, put a dresser or something behind the sliding part of it - and leave very, very early tomorrow. Asami can just avoid this mortifying ordeal altogether.

“-Asami?” Korra lifts her hand to Asami’s shoulder, shaking her a little. “You ok?”

Brilliant. Her plan is already working! “I don’t feel great,” she says, honestly feeling like she might pass out. “Feel weird.”

Korra leads her onto a chair, which is not part of the plan. “Do you want some water?”

“Yeah.”

Korra fills her a glass. Whatever she was going to tell her is clearly out of her mind right now, her forehead wrinkled with worry. “I keep telling you you work too much. This can’t be good for you, Asami.”

She’d laugh if she wasn’t so tense. “Yeah, yeah. I know.”

Immediately after gulping down the water, Asami feels better. Maybe Korra is gonna talk about her weird gift and how Ikki said it wasn’t girly enough or something like that. That sounds like Ikki.

“Thanks. You’re an angel.”

“Stay sitting down,” the woman responds with a frown. “You’re still a little pale.”

“What did you have to tell me, again? I’m sorry I interrupted you.”

Korra’s leg starts shaking in her seat next to her, with enough force the heavy wood creaks with the motion. Asami immediately regrets everything.

“‘Sams, look,” she says, serious. Her nerves seem to have abated long enough for Korra to lock eyes with her. “You’re my best friend.”

Asami works very hard not to cry at those words. It’s both the greatest honor of her life and a truly devastating death sentence. “You’re my best friend too.”

Korra barely responds to her words. Something’s off about her expression- her eyes are shining in the yellow light of the kitchen, soft and warm on hers. Almost like she’s going to cry, but not quite. Korra doesn’t even look sad at all. Maybe nervous, sure, but something is blooming inside Asami’s chest at Korra’s small smile, her wide blue eyes.

Instead of speaking, Korra looks down, briefly, at Asami’s lips. Asami is halfway through overanalyzing it when Korra tips forward in her seat and draws close by the back of her neck, kissing her.

Whatever it is that bloomed in her chest explodes at the contact, sending warmth all over her body. Asami feels her ears go white-hot with the sudden rush of feeling. God, Korra is kissing her. Kissing her!

Before Korra can even think about pulling away, Asami raises her hand to rest at Korra’s knee, squeezing it a little. She hums, from somewhere deep in her body, and kisses her back tentatively, body still tense. She only relaxes when Korra tilts her head and breathes out through her nose; Asami smiles into her lips and gets an answering one in return.

They stay like that for a while, warm and blushing in the silence of the kitchen. Asami wouldn’t be able to tell if a bomb went off outside- Korra’s lips were soft and plush, and she made a little sound at the back of her throat when Asami bit her lower lip.

“That’s a lot better than a bucket of mud.” She whispers happily into Korra’s mouth. The other woman laughs at that, their smiles knocking into each other’s.

“I did actually buy you a gift,” Korra admits with a giggle. It’s the single most adorable thing Asami has ever heard. “It’s under the tree and everything.”

“I like this one better.” Asami answers decidedly.

“You don’t even know what it is-“

Asami interrupts her with a quick peck, suddenly needing to be close to her again. Korra mutters the rest of her sentence, apparently struck dumb by a kiss, and Asami ends up just pulling her in again, kissing her deeply and licking into her mouth.

When they leave the kitchen, everyone is standing by the tree, looking at them in trepidation. Asami’s brain isn’t working yet so she stares back in confusion- Korra grins widely and gives the crowd a thumbs up.

They burst into yells and claps. A baffled Asami is rushed with hugs from basically everyone; Ikki yells at her ear and Opal shakes her so hard Asami thinks her bones shift in their places. Even Tenzin has a huge grin on his face, looking exactly like the old photographs of his father, and claps her on the shoulder.

“Remarkable, Asami,” he says, giddy. “Truly outstanding. I’m so happy for you.”

To Asami’s utter embarrassment, her eyes well up with tears. Pema brings her into a mom-hug, shushing her with equally teary words. Bolin lifts both of them into the air, almost knocking them all into the tree.

* * *

The rest of the night passes in a flurry of happiness. Asami clings to Korra for most of it, unable to believe her luck, and Korra kisses her cheek more times than she can count. Everything feels sort of hazy, as if from a dream. Asami tries her hardest to commit every second of it to memory; she’s been blindingly happy before and had it taken away, and a part of her will always be afraid of it happening again.

Turns out Mako’s plan was useless. He tells her that the entire house was aware of his machinations and tried to map out a route for the girls to take, when Bolin caught wind of it and told them very seriously that Korra was going to confess tonight anyway. Apparently, Asami’s blushing new girlfriend was so tired of carrying a torch in silence that she’d decided to go for it. Korra says she stared into her reflection in the downstairs mirror for fifteen minutes to try and psych herself up before heading to the kitchen.

After dinner, they settle down around the fireplace in the living room. Korra cuddles up to Asami the moment they sit, so quickly it must’ve been instinctual. Asami pulls her close to her and leans down to whisper a joke in her ear, giddy at the lack of space between them. Her heart feels fuller than it’s ever been.

The kids sing-yell some carols, Meelo making sure to mangle them at the best of his ability. Asami is suddenly struck with the sight of them, seven years after they’d met. Jinora is a woman now, with a job and airbending tattoos, Ikki is attending college, of all things, and Meelo can grow facial hair. And the baby she’d seen newborn, small and, honestly, quite ugly, was padding around the house, smiling. She watches as Rohan walks around her and Korra with his little reindeer socks, babbling loudly about something or other, trusting that the couple will catch him lest he falls.

Part of this fear she has is that, if it wasn’t for the small twist of fate that put her in Mako’s Calculus module, she would’ve never had this. The cozy walls of the Air Temple, strung up with lights for the simple joy of celebration. Tenzin and Pema, who didn’t even believe in this holiday, making sure to include their family and friends just for the sake of a day of fun. The hot meal Asami gets to eat, along with a nice glass of wine, listening to Opal complain about work.

And Korra- what could’ve happened if she hadn’t decided to step out into the freezing winter night to talk to a complete stranger? Wild.

Korra’s gift makes her day even better, which should be impossible. It’s an incredibly soft black scarf that feels wonderful around her neck, with a stitching pattern that probably works with all of her outfits. She really, really likes it.

“I remember you didn’t have one last year,” Korra tells her, speaking low enough so only she can hear. The rest of the house is talking loudly to each other around them at the living room and, thankfully, seem to be paying them no attention. “You did actually look a bit blue.”

The smile that blooms on Asami’s face is her least favorite- it’s the wide, unprepared grin she only lets out every now and then, because it makes her nostrils look weird and shows all her crooked teeth. It’s the opposite of her careful, media-ready persona, and it always makes her a little uncomfortable.

“Thank you,” she says, tucking her head into the scarf so Korra can’t see her lips. “It’s really pretty.”

Korra lets out a sigh of relief. “Jinora helped.”

Asami giggles. “Of course you asked for help.”

“I was scared, alright?” Korra makes sure to pout at the end of her sentence. Honestly, it’s very distracting.

“Of what, baby? You know me, so you’d know what to get.”

Asami rolls her eyes at the smug grin that takes over Korra’s face after her words. A blush crawls up her neck to her ears. “You called me baby.”

Asami aims for casual and lands somewhere near shy. “I did.”

Any lingering self-consciousness in her part is melted away by Korra’s enthusiastic kiss; her hands cup Asami’s, thumbs rubbing circles over her knuckles. Someone laughs loudly and then they hear a lot of whistles. The girls break away from each other, giggling, as Mako starts a childish chant and Wu provides drunken dancing as accompaniment.

* * *

Third Year- well, almost.

Next year’s Christmas begins with Korra asking her out for coffee beforehand.

They’re going together to the Air Temple anyway, seeing that Korra is basically her neighbor, but Korra insisted on seeing her earlier, citing their really busy week as a justification. The adorable pout Asami could hear through the phone was a great bonus, but Asami was already planning on dropping by Korra’s work today, so she just agrees happily to the coffee.

Korra also might be angling for her lifelong plan of buying Asami stuff, which will absolutely not work. Asami likes paying for Korra, alright? A lifetime of not having anyone to spoil does that to you.

Their relationship has been going great. Korra is the best girlfriend she could ask for- sweet, attentive, and shameless about her attraction to Asami. Korra seems to always be glued to her side, hand in hers, and she always listens to her intently, even when Asami is rambling about a maths problem Korra doesn’t understand at all. She takes Asami on hikes and explains the local wildlife with a kind, patient tone and never complains about her constant questions, even when Asami makes her spend an hour explaining turtleduck mating habits.

Asami is terribly, terribly in love with Korra, to the point of stupidity. Korra is a wonderful gift the universe has granted Asami and, even when she drives her to insanity with her stubbornness, Asami adores her with every fiber of her being. Which is why it’s been very hard to come up with a fitting gift for Christmas.

After a long afternoon with Jinora and Mako, she finally picked something out a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully Korra will like it.

But that’s for tonight. For now, Asami just buys her a latte.

The coffee shop is decked out in Christmas decorations. There are pretty wreaths on every door, string lights blink regularly over their heads, and every now and then a small Santa on the counter waves hello. They’ve been coming here for a few months - they even know Asami’s annoyingly complex order by heart - and Asami spends a few minutes talking to one of the servers about their Christmas plans.

The boy, Kai, waves as someone enters the store. It’s Korra, decked out in her customary ugly Christmas sweater and fur boots. She’s shaking snowflakes off her hair as she spots them, frown turning into a brilliant smile almost instantly. Korra practically skips towards them and greets Kai enthusiastically.

Asami hands her her cup with a kiss on the cheek. “Hi, baby.”

“Hey! So, how was your day?”

They head to their usual table. Asami waits until Korra tucks herself under her arm to answer. “It was okay. I got forced out of my office early so I mostly just lazed around at home.”

“Ah! Who should I thank?”

“Basically the whole office, to be honest.”

Asami can feel Korra’s shoulders shake with repressed laughter and sighs. Even her employees are tired of her doing overtime and it shows. The doorman at their building even waggled his finger at her direction this morning after giving her a shake of the head. She enjoys her work, what’s wrong with that?

Her exasperation must show on her face; Korra’s lips drop a quick kiss to her cheek out of nowhere. It promptly melts away.

“It’s good to have some free time, though. Didn’t your doctor tell you to spend less time sitting down?”

“What am I supposed to do then? Read books standing?”

Korra moves so they’re staring at each other. “You know,” she says pensively. “I had no idea you were so grumpy when we met.”

She moves away from Asami’s prodding finger at her sides, squirming in her seat. Korra is surprisingly ticklish and Asami has made sure to use that to her advantage. “You didn’t notice because you were too busy moping in the freezing cold.”

“I was having a moment,” Korra defends herself. “Like those mover stars.”

As Korra continues to defend her melodramatic moment in the snow, Asami ends up wondering whether that winter was exceptionally cold. She remembers curling up next to her heater more than once, shivering in thick clothes, and drinking scalding hot tea to feel better. There wasn’t a blizzard or a cold spell that year; there wasn’t any noticeable reason for how cold she truly felt that December.

She takes a sip of her drink and watches Korra for a second. She’s now in a different topic altogether, ranting about a game result or other, and Asami comes to the eventual realization that she hasn’t been cold once this winter. Be it because she’s spent a lot of time at Korra’s apartment - which has a very good heating system or because the season itself has been milder, but Asami can actually tell a difference.

It’s been so wonderful to have Korra next to her, watching the snow fall outside, cuddled up on the couch. Having her hold her hand in her pocket while they walk to the store or to watch a movie on date night. Her warm hands mussing up her hair as Korra gently tips her into bed, lips soft and tender on her neck and shoulders.

Korra has kindled something in her. A sparkling fire that keeps her happy all day long.

Asami stops to really take in the moment. Christmas music floats around them and she can hear Kai talking to someone on the phone, tone flirty but also a little shy. The lights flicker between green and yellow, casting small bright spots against the beige walls. Their wooden table is solid and well polished under their joined hands and their drinks are still steaming.

And Korra, amongst all this, a vision of pure, unadulterated joy. Eyes blue as the sky, bright in the artificial lights. Left hand moving about as she makes her point, a small ink smudge on her index finger. The little nick she got from a battle with a piece of paper is still red on her chin. She smells like her perfume, like pine and mint, but also like the freshly printed papers she has to handle at work.

She’ll tell her Korra she loves her today. Damn her romantic plans for dinner next week. It’s fucking Christmas and she loves her. But that can wait until after everyone goes to bed.

For now, pulls Korra a little closer to her and reminds her of her cooling drink.

**Author's Note:**

> hi! it's been a full year since i've posted anything so i'm kind of nervous. hopefully this comforted you as much as it comforted me.
> 
> stay safe and happy holidays!


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